Thanks for the latest info tdarlene. Is there anyway to send a link or scan this article. I am not familiar with this magazine and tried to "google" the article and the magazine but to no avail. Thanks so much.
MM

Is there anyway to send a link or scan this article. I am not familiar with this magazine and tried to "google" the article and the magazine but to no avail.

This is an economy magazine (with a very select kind of readers).
The whole text of this great interview given by D. Duarte de Bragança to the journalist Alexandra de Almeida Ferreira was reproduced in the following message board, by Maria_da_Fonte:

Hello, Dang Ayah!
The person you're referring to is not Princess of Beira. She belongs to a colateral branch Saxe Coburgo Gotha e Bragança of the Portuguese royal family, descending from D.ª Maria Pia, which is claiming the succession to the Portuguese Throne, but which is not recognized among the absolute majority of the monarchic community.

You have here the official site of these claimants, among which is Soraya Lucia Sayda Tecla:

The Government of the Republic decided to interven in the old subject of who is the legitimate heir to the throne of Portugal, reinforcing its recognition to D. Duarte Pio, Duke of Bragança. Moreover, it decided to act against Rosario Poidimani, who also claims to be the head of the Portuguese Royal House.

On letter of July 2006 addressed to Rosário Poidimani’s lawyer, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of Legal Subjects bases the recognition of D. Duarte Pio as legitimate heir of the Portuguese Royal House upon the "historical and traditional recognition of the Portuguese People", the "common rules of the dynastic succession" and the "tacit recognition of the remaining royal houses from Europe and around the World, with which the legitimate House of Bragança shares blood relations".

Furthermore, it adds that, based upon this recognition, the Portuguese State confers D. Duarte politic, historical and diplomatic representation, as the Dukes of Bragança "are often sent to represent the Portuguese People in cultural, humanitarian or religious events abroad, moments when they get a diplomatic passport". The document denies that the State is paying D. Duarte any charge, but nothing is mentioned about the budget that finances those services, on behalf of Portugal.

This recognition of the Portuguese State raised some dissatisfaction among the supporters of the Duke of Loulé, Pedro Folque de Mendoça.

Regarding Rosário Poidimani and his aspiration to represent the Portuguese Royal House, the Government decided to act against him, in order to preserve the Portuguese interests abroad. Rosário Poidimani is apparently giving decorations of the Portuguese honorific orders, without being authorized for such, thus injuring the interests of the Portuguese State.

D. PEDRO PROTESTS

The question about the heir and head of the Royal House is a controversial issue. The supporters of the Duke of Loulé, Pedro Folque de Mendoça, applauded the fact that the Government had recognized "the politic, historical and diplomatic representation that is officially recognized to the Royal House of Portugal and its representatives". However, they protest against the fact that the Government had broken its neutrality on this matter.

Luis Bivar, one of the supporters of Pedro Folque de Mendoça, says that "the Dukes of Loulé are the descendants of Princess D.ª Ana de Jesus Maria, daughter of King D. João VI and Queen D.ª Carlota Joaquina, being the current heir, for that reason, D. Pedro, VI Duke of Loulé".

Thank you for the article, Elsa!
I haven't heard of any Government 'stepping in' into the question, who's rightful heir/pretender to the throne, that's indeed very interesting!

__________________Queen Elizabeth: "I cannot lead you into battle, I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else, I can give you my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations." God, Save The Queen!

It is indeed an odd situation, but the only reason why the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stepped into the question is that this Rosário person (who nobody in Portugal has ever heard about...) was disrespecting the name of Portugal, abusing its orders and symbols, given discredit to the Portuguese diplomacy and institutions. Actually, the government didn't do anything but to reiterate the obvious and to put this Italian man in his place. D. Duarte is universally recognized as the heir, by the Vatican, by the Monarchies from around the world, by he Portuguese State and by all the other countries, especially the PALOP (Portuguese Speaking Countries).

D. Duarte and D.ª Isabel flew to the island of Porto Santo (in the archipelago of Madeira), to attend the traditional celebrations of the Colombo Festival. This event, dedicated to honour Christopher Columbus, consists of a series of spectacles, as well as exhibitions and allusive parades to the environment lived during the time of the Portuguese Discoveries.

According to official information, the Dukes of Bragança arrived in Porto Santo yesterday at 10:10 AM, they visited the Casa Colombo - Museu do Porto Santo, at 6:00 PM, and the Historical Downtown, at 7:00 PM. Finally, at 8:30 PM, they participated in a Medieval Dinner that took place at the Cultural Centre of Porto Santo.

D. Duarte and D.ª Isabel flew to the island of Porto Santo (in the archipelago of Madeira), to attend the traditional celebrations of the Colombo Festival. This event, dedicated to honour Christopher Columbus, consists of a series of spectacles, as well as exhibitions and allusive parades to the environment lived during the time of the Portuguese Discoveries.

According to official infrmation, the Dukes of Bragança arrived in Porto Santo yesterday at 10:10 AM, they visited the Casa Colombo - Museu do Porto Santo, at 6:00 PM, and the Historical Downtown, at 7:00 PM. Finally, at 8:30 PM, they participated in a Medieval Dinner that took place at the Cultural Centre of Porto Santo.

I saw some publicity there!
The people in Porto Santo must be very happy for being with the Dukes. And it's a very good publicity for that beautiful island!
Thank you for the information, Elsa!

On the last day of the festival, the heir to the Throne attended a reception at 10:30, at the cultural centre of Porto Santo and, at night, the Dukes of Bragança were the protagonists of the closing events of this Colombo Festival.

Last Saturday (September 23rd), D. Duarte presided in Oporto over the prize-giving ceremony of the D. Henrique Award (of which he is one of the founders) that was given to the Colégio Inglês do Porto (the British School of Oporto).

The D. Henrique Award was created in 1987, and it is the Portuguese version of the "Duke of Edinburgh Award", which completes this year 50 years old. This association stimulates the education of young people, through communitary service, contact with the Nature and the personal perfectioning.

Next October 5th (the day we celebrate the Implementation of the Republic of 1910), D. Duarte de Bragança will preside over the the Royal Canoe Regatta (Real Regata das Canoas). The prize-giving ceremony is going to take place in Belém (Lisbon), at 4:00 PM.

D. Miguel is a very down-to-earth man. Sometimes he takes part in ceremonies, as a representative of the Royal House, but the truth is that there's not coverage about him in the press (it's cruel, but no one cares about him). The same goes for D. Henrique... although he tends to appear in parties and yellow magazines...
Last time I heard about him, he was talking about marriage. Quite frankly, no one takes him seriously...

Monarchists from along the Country had all reaffirmed, during the 13th Congress of the Royal Cause, "the intransigent defense of the dinastic rights of D. Duarte de Bragança to the throne of Portugal".

According to José Gaspar (president of the association), "this congress was essentially statutory". The event "was a starting point for the Royal Cause" and allowed the achievement of "wide consensuses", as far as politics are concerned.

D. Miguel is a very down-to-earth man. Sometimes he takes part in ceremonies, as a representative of the Royal House, but the truth is that there's not coverage about him in the press (it's cruel, but no one cares about him). The same goes for D. Henrique... although he tends to appear in parties and yellow magazines...
Last time I heard about him, he was talking about marriage. Quite frankly, no one takes him seriously...

Thank you for that information, Elsa. I think I saw the post on the FIRMB about that marriage-to-be.

D. Duarte Pio, the Duke of Bragança attended the presentation of the new oil Ribeiro Sanches, one of fewest oils in the world to have the kosher certification and the first oil of the kind to be produced in Portugal, in last 500 years.

As requested by the Jewish tradition, the production process of this oil was co-ordinated by rabbi Elisha Rooms, the responsible for the Jewish community of Oporto.

In a small article published last Sunday by 24 Horas, it is stated that D. Duarte wants Infante D. Afonso to receive a most "normal" education, without any special treatment.

In the school D. Afonso attends, he asked not be registered with the title of "Dom" and both teachers and students are instructed not to address him that deference, so that the child is treated like any other colleage. D. Duarte confesses: «it is enough that the other children refer to my children as the King's children» and compares them to the children of football players: «when the other boys realize who their parents are, they will deal with them in a different way».

Besides, D. Afonso's school programs do not differ from the his companions' and it is D.ª Isabel herself who attends the parents' meetings, while it is D. Duarte who helps them with the homeworks.

________

This articles seems to appear in the sequence of a kind of nasty episode experienced by the Infante, a couple of weeks ago. It seems D. Afonso's mates, about a month ago, made a circle around him and started making reverences to the poor boy, who felt ashamed, in front of the whole school.

A new book by Prof. Mendo Castro Henriques is coming to the stores. It's entitled Dom Duarte e a Democracia (Dom Duarte and Democracy) and it says of the Duke of Bragança's political thought. The press release is going to take place in Lisboa, next November 22nd, and Porto, on November 23rd.